Wrapping machines



March 12, 1957 J. N. EDIS ETAL WRAPPING MACHINES 1 n e e h s t e e h v S 3 J u m n 4 5 9 l 2 2 e n u J v d e l H INuENT W MEL-'4) MM By W/Co ATTORNEYS March 12, 1957 J. N. EDIS ETAL WRAPPING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 22, 1954 ATTPRM YS, I

March 12, 1957 J. N. EDIS ETAL WRAPPING MACHINES I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 22, 1954 INVENTORS m M 51 WAQQMMMW ATTOR mam United States WRAPPING MACHINES John Neville Edis and Leonard Brook, Leeds, England,

assignors to The Forgrove Machinery Company Limited, Leeds, England, a company of Great Britain This invention relates to wrapping machines of the type in which tablets of confectionery are transferred to a transfer station by a horizontally travelling chain in which the tablets stand on edge, and comprising a reciprocating transfer plunger at the transfer station for ejecting the tablets in succession from the chain. The tablets are carried on the chain either as individual tablets or as a string of connected tablets joined to one another by thin webs of stock, and it is necessary to transfer the tablets so that they lie on their sides on an elevator by which they are lifted in succession into a wrapping wheel which turns on a horizontal axis. The object of this invention is to provide a simple and convenient mechanism for transferring the tablets from the chain to the elevator, at the same time rotating them through 90.

According to the invention, the machine includes a feed disc, mounted to rotate on an axis inclined at 45 to the vertical and formed with a plurality of pockets, open at both ends, which are brought in succession by rotation of the disc from a position in which they are aligned with the transfer plunger to a position in which they are aligned with the elevator and means for confining the tablets in said pockets during their travel to the elevator, the elevator being immediately below the pocket arriving in position above it and thereafter rising to lift the tablet in said pocket into the wrapping wheel.

The chain may move continuously or intermittently. Where it carries a string of connected tablets, we may rely on the impact of the transfer plunger to sever the tablet to be transferred from the string. Alternatively, we may provide, in advance of the transfer station, a rotary cutter, for separating the tablets from the string.

When the chain moves continuously, the feed disc may be driven by a Geneva mechanism so that it moves for an appreciable time at substantially the same speed as the chain just before coming to rest, the transfer plunger being given a sideways movement during part of its forward and return strokes so that it may follow the movement of the chain.

One specific embodiment of the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the conveyor chain and the mechanism for transferring the tablets from the chain to the wrapping wheel,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the cutter mechanism,

Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the conveyor chain, showing the wrapping wheel and transfer mechanism in elevation,

Fig. 4 is an end view, looking from the right hand side of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view, showing the transfer plunger.

Like reference numerals denote like parts throughout the figures.

In the drawings, designates a chain conveyor, having a substantially horizontal upper run, for conveying to a transfer station, from a moulding machine (which may be of the kind described in United .StatesPatent-No.

atent 0 pockets in the conveyor defined by upstanding knife edges 12 which support the webs of stock connecting ad-- jacent tablets in the string. The chain passes round sprockets, one of which is shown at 13, and is continuously driven.

During the passage of the string of tablets to the transfer station, the tablets are severed individually and in succession from the string by a rotary cutter 14. It will be suflicient here to explain that the cutter comprises a rotary disc 15, mounted on a spindle 16 extending obliquely to the direction of run of the conveyor 10 and continuously rotated, through the agency of skew gears 17, gears 18 and a chain and sprocket drive 19 from a continuously rotating shaft 20. The disc 15 carries two circular cutter blades 21, rotatably mounted on pins 22,

the axes of which are offset from the axis of the spindle- 16 so that as each cutter blade 21 passes across the axis of the chain 10 it occupies a position at right angles to the chain, its axis being in line with the direction of travel of the chain. The blades 21 operate alternately at successive machine cycles to sever the tablets 11 individually from the string and coact with the knife edges 12 to sever the Webs of stock connecting the tablets in planes transverse to the length of the string of tablets.

At the transfer station, the tablets are discharged in succession from the pockets in the chain by a transfer plunger 23 (Figs. 3 and 5), which is reciprocated in a path transverse to the direction of travel of the chain by an eccentric 24 to transfer the tablets to the pockets of a feed disc 26. A link 27 connects the plunger 23 to a lever 28 fixed to a shaft 29. Also fixed to the shaft 29 is a lever 30, carrying a follower 31 coacting with a cam 32. The cam 32 serves to impart sideways movement to the transfer plunger 23. At the start of its forward movement toward the chain. 10, the plunger 23 is moved sideways by the cam 32 against the direction of travel of the chain. As soon as the plunger enters the pocket of the chain its sideways movement is reversed, so that it travels with the chain. Sideways movement of the plunger in this direction continues until it has left the pocket of the chain on its return stroke. The sideways movement of the plunger is then again reversed. As viewed in plan, the path of movement of the end of the plunger approxirnates, as indicated at A in Fig. 5, to the outline of a spinning top, the point of which is presented to the feed disc 26. The plunger 23 is thus reciprocated in a path transverse to its feed stroke so that it moves forwardly with the chain as it passes across the chain and moves rearwardly during the time in which it is disposed to the left of the chain as seen in Fig. 5.

The feed disc 26 is mounted on a shaft 33 (Fig. 3), inclined at 45 to the horizontal and extending downwardly away from the chain 10 at the side thereof remote from the transfer plunger 23. The feed disc 26 is shaped like a bevel wheel and has four bosses 34 in which are formed the throughgoing pockets 25 which are open at each end. The disc 26 is cut away between the bosses to allow for downward movement, while the disc is rotating, of an elevator 35 for transferring the tablets in succession from the disc 26 to a wrapping wheel 36.

The pocket 25 of the feed disc in alignment with the transfer plunger 23 has its axis horizontal (as shown in Fig. 3) while the diametrically opposite pocket in alignment with the elevator 35 has its axis vertical. Inside the feed disc is a-fixed disc 37, having a. cut-away portion opposite the elevator. The disc 37 supports the inner face of the tablet in the feed pocket 25 opposite the transfer plunger and during its subsequent travel to the elevator. A fixed rail 138 (Fig. 1) between the Patented Mar. 12, 1957 transfer station and the elevator, supports the outer face of the tablet between thetransfer station and the elevator. The shaft 33 of the feed disc is driven by a Geneva mechanism (not shown) and as each pocket 25 approaches the transfer station ittravels at approximately the same speed as the chain 10. Thefeed disc 26 comes to rest as the transfer plunger 23 withdraws from it on its return stroke, and a cam-operated shutter 38' (Fig. 1) is then lowered into alignment with the rail 138 to prevent the tablet from falling out of the pocket of the feed disc and back on to the chain.

As shown in Fig. l, the shutter 38 is pivoted on a pin 39, and has two tail pieces 40, 41 coacting respectively with a roller 42, mounted on a bell crank 43', and with a spring 44. The bell crank 43 carries a follower 45 coacting with a cam 46. The roller 42 normally holds. the shutter 38 in the raised position shown in Fig. 1 against the action of the spring 44. When, however, the transfer plunger 23 has withdrawn from the pocket 25 of the feed disc 26, the low portion of the cam 46 arrives opposite the follower 45, freeing the tail piece 40 from restraint by the roller 42 and allowing the spring 44 to depress the shutter 38 into its operative position, from which it is raised again by the cam 46 when the feed disc 26 has travelled on to a position in which the outer face of the tablet is supported by the fixed rail 138.

Two steps of movement of the feed disc 26 are required to bring the tablet to the elevator 35. This, as the tablet arrives, is flush with the fixed disc 37' and the inner or bottom surface of the tablet is swept off the fixed disc 37 and on to the elevator 35. The latter consists of a flat plate on the end of a cranked extension 66 (Fig. of a cam-operated elevator arm 47 (Fig. 3).

As the feed disc 26 comes to rest, the elevator 35 its upward stroke and returns to its bottom position before the next feed pocket reaches it.

The wrapping wheel 36 (Fig. 3) carries a number of pairs of gripper jaws 48, 49, which are pivoted to the wheel and are geared together by gear teeth 150. It also carries a number of fixed grippers 50, to each of which is pivoted a movable gripper 51. A spring 52 is disposed between each fixed gripper 5t and the adjoining jaw 49 and a spring 152 is disposed between each movable gripper 51 and the adjoining jaw 48. These springs tend to close the gripper 51 against its companion fixed gripper 50 and also to close the associated pair of jaws 48, 49.

A web 53 of wrapping material is fed downwardly at the side of the wrapping wheel and is periodically severed by a moving knife 54 and a cooperating fixed knife 65 at a station spaced 90 away from the charging station, at which the elevator 35 is situated. The severed wrapper 55 is engaged by one of the pairs of grippers 50, 51, on the wrapping wheel and carried by the intermittent rotation thereof into a position in which the portion of the wrapper trailing from the grippers rests on top of the boss of the feed disc 26 located above the elevator, as shown in Fig. 3. The movable grippers 51 are opened and closed in both the receiving and release position by cam levers (not shown) external to the wrapping wheel and having a tappet action on the heels 56 of the grippers, so opening them when required against the action of the springs 52.

It will be noted that the web feeding and severing mechanism is located well away fromthe elevator 35, so that any chippings which may fall from the elevator cannot drop on to the web feeding mechanism. The grippers 5t), 51 open to receive the leading end of the web 53 as it is fed. forward and then close to carry the severed wrapper 55 to position above the elevator, the

trailing end of the wrapper being then supported by a fixed guide 63. The jaws open again during the upward movement of the elevator to enable the wrapper to be carried upwardly, and folded in U-formation about the tablet, into the jaws 48, 49 of the wrapping wheel. Each of the jaws 49 carries a cam. lever 57, which coacts with a continuously rotating cam 58 when the jaw 49 arrives in position above the elevator. The cam 58 then opens the jaws 48, 49 against the action of the spring 52. After the tablet and its wrapper have been lifted into the jaws 48, 49 the cam 58 allows the jaws to return to their closed position to grip the tablet.

A cam-operated top elevator, comprising a pair of spaced fingers 59 (Fig. 1), mounted on hollow arm 60 (Fig. 3) arranged to be oscillated by a cam, holds the Wrapper in contact with the top of the tablet during its passage into position between the jaws 48, 49 of the wrapping wheel. To assist in correct folding of the wrapper about the tablet, the portions of the wrapper which extend beyond the ends of the tablet are securely held by suction to the fingers 59 of the top elevator, the.

suction being applied through the hollow arms 60. After the bottom elevator has descended. to its bottom position,v a first folder 61 is moved in known fashion to fold against the base of the tablet one of the depending wings of wrapper. The other depending wing of wrapper is folded against the base of the tablet by a fixed folder 62 as the wrapping wheel moves on to its next position. The folders 61, 62 are formed with central gaps, similar to that between the fingers 59, to permit of the passage of the grippers 51. Twisting or further folding of the projecting tubular ends of the wrapper is effected at the next station to which the tablet is brought by the wrapping wheel. When the tablet reaches a position approaching the top of the wrapping wheel, the runner 64, on the cam lever 57 attached to the jaw 49, rides on to a fixed cam piece (not shown) so opening the jaws 48, 49' and permitting of ejection of the wrapped tablet from the wrapping wheel when it reaches the top position of the wrapping wheel.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a wrapping .mac'hine, the combination with a horizontally traveling chain for conveying to a transfer station tablets of confectionery standing on edge in said chain, of. a wrapping wheel, a reciprocating transfer plunger at the transfer station for ejecting the tablets in succession from the chain, an elevator arranged to reciprocate vertically to raise the ejected tablets in succession into, the wrapping wheel, a feed disc, mounted to rotate on an axis inclined at to the vertical and formed with a plurality of pockets, open at both ends, which are brought in succession by rotation of the disc from a position in which they are aligned with the transfer plunger, to receive the tablets ejected from the chain by said transfer plunger, to a position in which they are aligned with the elevator and, means for confining the tablets in the pockets of said feed disc during their travel from the trans fer station to the. elevator, the elevator, when at the bottom of its stroke, being immediately below the pocket arriving in position'above it and thereafter rising to lift the tablet in said pocket into the wrapping wheel.

2. In a wrapping machine, a combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the confining. means comprise a fixed disc, for supporting the inner faces of the tablets in the pockets of said feed disc, said fixed disc, being disposed within the rotary feed disc and having a cut-away portion opposite the elevator, a fixed rail external to the feed disc and extending between the transfer station and the elevator. for supporting the'outer faces of the tablets and a camoperated shutter at the transfer station which is moved into' alignment with the rail at each machine cycle immediately after the transfer plunger has inserted a tablet into'the pocket of said feed disc at the transfer station.

3. In awrappingmachine, the combination with a chain conveyor having a horizontally extending upper run for supporting tablets of confectionery standing on edge, means for moving said chain continuously at uniform speed to convey said tablets in succession to a transfer station, of a wrapping wheel, a reciprocating transfer plunger at the transfer station for ejecting the tablets in succession from the chain, an elevator arranged to reciprocate vertically to raise the ejected tablets in succession into the wrapping wheel, a feed disc, mounted to rotate on an axis inclined at 45 to the vertical and formed with a plurality of pockets, open at both ends, which are brought in succession by rotation of the disc from a position in which they are aligned with the transfer plunger, to receive the tablets ejected from the chain by said transfer plunger, to a position in which they are aligned with the elevator, means for rotating said feed disc intermittently so that each pocket thereof approaches the transfer station at approximately the same speed as the chain, means for displacing said transfer plunger in a direction transverse to its feed stroke so that it travels forwardly with the chain as it moves across the chain, and means for confining the tablets in the pockets of said feed disc during their travel from the transfer station to the elevator, the elevator, when at the bottom of its stroke, being immediately below the pocket arriving in position above it and thereafter rising to lift the tablet in said pocket into the wrapping wheel.

4-. In a wrapping machine, a combination as claimed in claim 3, wherein said feed disc is formed with a plurality of bosses, each boss containing one of said pockets, and wherein the elevator is cranked so as to permit each step of movement of the feed disc to start during the up stroke of the elevator.

5. In a wrapping machine, a combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wrapping wheel is arranged to turn on a horizontal axis and comprising mechanism disposed at the side of the Wrapping wheel for feeding a web of wrapping material downwardly, severing mechanism for severing wrappers in succession from the Web and grippers on the wrapping wheel for carrying the wrappers in succession into the path of upward movement of the elevator.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,060,983 Kemfi May 6, 1913 2,443,952 Gilbert June 22, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 55,133 Sweden Sept. 12, 1923 

